Monday, Rachel’s family said they're thankful she is alive after a motorcycle crash near 78th and Dodge last week. Rachel was the passenger on a motorcycle driven by her boyfriend, 27-year-old Jed Workman. Workman was killed in the crash.

Rachel’s father was the first in her family to find out about the accident.

"Panic sets in," he said, “Totally uncontrollable.”

Macchietto's mother, Amy O'Connor, received a call shortly after and headed straight to the hospital. On her way, she passed by the scene of the crash.

"The whole intersection was roped off and the accident was there with the motorcycle and the vehicle," O'Connor said. "And it hit me: Oh my God, my daughter was in this accident."

Macchietto was taken to Nebraska Medicine with critical injuries. Monday her jaw is broken, her pelvis is injured and several vertebrae fractured. She has trauma to the part of her brain that controls speech and short-term memory.

O'Connor said Macchietto's perseverance shows with each passing day.

"I have been referring to her as our little warrior," O'Connor said.

The family is now rallying around Rachel, hoping to send a message about the dangers of motorcycles.

"It's a good thing she was wearing the motorcycle helmet, because it saved her life," Carl Macchietto said. "If this was a two-car accident, it would have been a fender bender."

The family has found comfort in the kindness of others, describing the support from friends and family as overwhelming.

“There are good things, you see the goodness in people,” Carl Macchietto said.The accident has been a reminder of the fragility of life.

"I look at everything I really love about her and I really appreciate it a lot more," said Matthew Macchietto, Rachel's older brother.

"In this case, our daughter's life was spared," O'Connor said. "And she said to me today, 'I'm glad I'm alive, mama.' Just hearing her say that was like the best thing we've ever heard."